The Unexplored Territory of Nigeria’s Used Spare Parts Market; Ladipo Market Could Generate 6% of Lagos State Annual Income [REPORT]

• The unexplored territory of Nigeria’s Used Spare Parts Market
• Carmudi Nigeria takes a tour of Ladipo Market, Lagos

Lagos, Nigeria – According to the 2012 statistics released by the Lagos state government, 67% out of the 1.1 million vehicles that were registered in the State were tokunbo vehicles.  A survey conducted by the Nigeria Federal Road Safety Corps shows that 5% of tokunbo cars sold in Nigeria have either been altered from a right wheel drive to a left wheel drive and over 25% of cars sold as tokunbo have been upgraded from a manual transmission to an automatic transmission. All these alterations were done here in the country by local mechanics. Carmudi Nigeria tells the tale of Nigeria’s biggest spare part market in Nigeria.

A stroll through the ever popular Ladipo market brings you into the back world of automobiles. Just like the United Berger Market along Oshodi Apapa expressway is known for the sale of used cars, the Ladipo market in Mushin Lagos is known for the sale of used motor spare parts. This is slowly becoming a very vibrant market as it serves the need of car owners in Lagos. The market is rumored to generate about 6% of the state’s revenue yearly.

Carmudi Nigeria took a trip to the spare part market to get a feel of the market’s day to day activities. From the gate leading in to the market amidst the hums of the generators we could hear loud banging from the industrial workshops where repairs of spare parts are carried out by professionals most of which have years of experience. Just inside the market a group of young men also known as freelancers were discussing the activities of the previous day. All around shops were in full gear at about 9.00am ready for the day’s business.

At the office of the Ladipo Market Traders Union/Association we met Mr. Nnamdi Nkemelu, Public Relations Officer for the association. Giving us a history of the market, Mr. Nkemelu said “I am from Anambra state. I came to Lagos and joined the market in 1994. From what I was told the market has been in existence since the late 1980s. Since then the market has grown so much that we can effectively provide different spare part brands customers may require. Over the years, the market has seen a lot of development and I am proud to say that at present we have over 200 traders operating in the market.” He also mentioned that at the beginning only new spare parts were sold in the market but when tokunbo cars started to flood the country, they had to provide used spare parts also.

Aside from providing auto spare parts, the market is also well known for its plethora of automotive mechanics or service technicians that inspect, diagnose, repair, convert, upgrade and provide general services of automobiles, trucks and buses.

Just behind the market on Shotinoye Street, Mushin Carmudi Nigeria met with Wale, a mechanic who was fast at work converting a right wheel drive to a left wheel drive. According to him, converting a car from right to left wheel drive does not affect the efficiency of the car. “Once a conversion is professionally done, customers will not be able to see any difference between a factory produced car and a locally converted car”, said Wale.

About Carmudi

Carmudi was founded in 2013 and is currently available in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and Zambia. The vehicle marketplace offers buyers, sellers and car dealers the ideal platform to find cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles online.